Gunner (LWR)

Back To Main Page

  Gunner

The Gunner class is a support fire specialist, capable of wielding the largest automatic weapons in XCOM's arsenal to either inflict heavy damage, or lock down and debuff hostiles.

Primary Weapon: SAWs, LMGs, Assault Rifles, Carbines, SMGs.

Secondary Weapon: None.

Class-Limited items: SAWs, LMGs.

Attribute Growth: HP x2, Aim x2.

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Suppression Suppress [Pinned if protected by cover, suppressive fire if not, no reaction fire, -35 aim, -35% mobility/ability range] targets. Breaks with suppressive fire if the target acts. Requires 2 ammo, and uses the 2nd ammo if the suppression breaks with suppressive fire. Suppressing makes this unit 30% more likely to be critically hit. 2 turn cooldown.
Lance Corporal	Will To Survive All cover DR increased to 70% but grants 15 less defense. Grants +3 armor HP and Steadfast. Steadfast Provides immunity to panic (except from flame/psi attacks) and reduces injury time by 50%.		Sentinel Fire an additional reaction shot during overwatch. Gain +20 defense when on overwatch. Grants Opportunist. Opportunist Reaction shots gain +10 aim and can critically hit.		Mayhem Suppression has 1 turn less cooldown and deals suppressive fire damage immediately.
Corporal	Critical System Targeting Shots against autopsied mechanical units deal +50% damage and gain +2 penetration. Does not work with the Arc Rifle or Arc Pistol.		Grit Grants +3 armor HP and %DR equal to half of the %HP lost.		Penetrator The primary weapon gains +2 penetration.
Sergeant	Double Tap Shooting or using burst allows this unit to fire an extra shot (at +25 aim/crit if it's the same target) if not out of ammo or targets. 1 turn cooldown after 2nd shot is used.		Ready For Anything At the end of each turn, if this unit did not move and is not at risk of triggering reaction fire, Overwatch activates. Grants +2 ammo to non-arc primary weapons.		Holo Rounds Firing at a target during this unit's turn holos [Prevents concealment/stealth, incoming shots gain +20 aim and +1 penetration] them for 3 turns.
Tech Sergeant	Shredder Primary weapon shots during this unit's turn apply Shred equal to the dealt as a percent of the target's max HP (which increases subsequent damage the target receives by the amount of Shred) to any unit they damage for the remainder of the battle.
Gunnery Sergeant	Tenacious Defense Grants +3 armor HP. Grants +20% crit resistance when protected by cover.		Lock N' Load Reloading any weapon costs only 1 AP. Dashing automatically reloads the active weapon.		Bring 'Em On Grants additional shot damage equal to half the number of enemies in sight. Grants additional aim and graze chance equal to 5x the number of enemies in sight.
Master Sergeant	Extra Conditioning Grants +3 armor HP, +0.6 mobility, 10% throw range, and a 10% chance for all end-in-idle actions to cost 0 AP.			Kitted Grants a medikit, a smoke grenade, and +1 ammo to non-arc primary weapons.

Tactical Advice

Role: Medium Range Offense / Offensive Support

The Gunner is mostly unchanged from vanilla. A major decision when building a Gunner is deciding if they will use a LMG or SAW-type weapon. SAW Gunners have more mobility and accuracy while LMG Gunners are slow and inaccurate but boast an improved Suppression thanks to the weapon's Danger Zone and a deep pool of ammo to draw from.

Suppression is a powerful tool used to chip down exposed targets or pin down enemies behind cover to prevent dangerous flanks. Besides this innate utility, they also have access to a large array of offensive and defensive options which gives them a lot of flexibility in their builds, with many viable combinations.

They enjoy the high power of their class weapons, granting them a sizable damage output that will put Shredder to good use. Gunners are however quite slow with no movement growth and heavy weaponry and thus are most at home in fights that don't require a lot of repositioning.

Sample Builds

Tank Gunner

The Tank Gunner mixes sturdiness with high damage in a threatening package. It is a rare example of a biological class with access to Grit and it is put to good use to endure an impressive amount of punishment that would leave most other tank builds long dead. Double Tap rounds out the offensive capabilities of the build with strong bursts of shredding damage that can crack open heavily armored enemies. Suppression remains a reliable utility option but an alert Commander will keep an eye on available ammo lest a crucial Double Tap opportunity be missed.

Sample Tank Build: Will To Survive -> Grit -> Double Tap or Holo Rounds -> Shredder -> Tenacious Defense or Bring 'Em On -> Kitted

Will To Survive

Grit

Double Tap Holo Rounds

Shredder

Tenacious Defense Bring 'Em On

Kitted

Recommended Weapons: SAW or LMG
Recommended Equipment: Platings, Combat Stims, Walker Servos, Psi Defender.

Notes:

• The biggest choice for Gunner Tanks is their SGT perk. Double Tap gives strong burst damage potential from the big guns that Gunners carry, while Holo leans more into the support side of gunners and their Suppression's ability to spread Holo around (especially with an LMG).
• At GSGT you can choose to sacrifice the crit resistance of Tenacious Defense for the utility and ammo of Kitted. With Psi Defender, the crit resistance is less necessary, so this may be a worthwhile trade.
• Like most Gunner builds, mobility tends to be a heavy concern; Walker Servos are an instant solution to the problem if necessary.
• A more hybrid build utilizing perks such as Critical System Targeting or Lock N' Load is possible if the heavy firepower of a Gunner is more important than raw tankiness; this can work well if multiple tanks are brought along.

Overwatch Gunner

The Overwatch Gunner is an offensive build that utilizes the high damage of the SAW or LMG with Sentinel and Shredder to deliver hefty damage through reaction fire and lock down enemy movement. Ready for Anything grants some much needed aim as well as free Overwatching as long as the Gunner does not move. For this reason, this build is most at home in heavy and protracted firefights where it can fire uninterrupted - racking up shredding damage to overwhelm the opposition. Pairing this build with another Overwatch class will wear down enemy battle lines at an alarming pace. Suppression - while still useful - is less optimal than on other builds.

Sample Overwatch Build: Sentinel -> Any -> Ready for Anything-> Shredder -> Lock N' Load or Bring 'Em On -> Kitted

Sentinel

Penetrator Grit Critical System Targeting

Ready For Anything

Shredder

Lock N' Load Bring 'Em On

Kitted

Recommended Weapons: SAW or LMG
Recommended Equipment: Alloy Bipod, Aim-increasers, Damage-increasers, Mobility-increasers, Special ammo.

Notes:

• The CPL perk in this build is very flexible:
  • Critical System Targeting combined with Flak ammo allow a high specialization against Mechs.
  • Penetrator is less specialized but usable against many targets.
  • Grit gives a front-line soldier added survivability, which is always useful.
• Lock n' Load and Kitted both accomplish a similar role in this build; LnL makes your reloading more flexible while Kitted lets you wait longer before reloading and provides some utility. Both lead to Overwatching with a full mag due to Ready for Anything.
• Psionics and Gene Mods are both greatly appreciated on this build for the extra OW shot from Inner Fire and Enhanced Metabolism respectively. The Gunner's low will growth often means that Psi Gunners are quite rare, however.
• The LMG is an unconventional choice for this build due to the steep aim penalty. Sufficiently mitigated however (e.g Mind Merge + Holo Rounds or equipping multiple aim-increasers), the resulting damage will put most other offensive builds to shame.

Mayhem Gunner (Bullet Wizard)

The Mayhem Gunner build focuses on debuffing and crowd control through Suppression boosted by Holo Rounds and Shredder to allow other squad members to provide more accurate and damaging fire. With Mayhem and Danger Zone from the LMG, the Gunner can suppress and debuff entire groups of enemies, denting targets and pinning them down if in cover. The cooldown turn of Suppression can be put to good use by repositioning, reloading or simply using the unwieldy LMG to deliver a powerful albeit innaccurate (Flush is advised) shredding shot to a target. While slow, this build can fix that problem thanks to a great freedom in terms of equipment choices; many typical "shooter" items have a minimal impact on Mayhem Suppression.

Sample Bullet Wizard Build: Mayhem -> Penetrator or Grit -> Holo Rounds -> Shredder -> Lock n' Load -> Extra Conditioning or Kitted

Mayhem

Penetrator Grit

Holo Rounds

Shredder

Lock N' Load

Extra Conditioning Kitted

Recommended Weapons: LMG
Recommended Equipment: Survivability-increasers, Mobility-increasers, Damage-increasers, Alloy Bipod, Utility.

Notes:

• The Alloy Bipod gives a unique flat bonus to Suppressive Fire damage; this can be nice if you happen to have extra item slots you aren't using for other things, but isn't necessary.
• Penetrator adds a significant amount of damage through DR due to Mayhem's low damage early, but eventually the survivability of Grit may be more worthwhile as shred is not affected by DR and Mayhem isn't a damage specialist.
• This build is known to be very stat-independant; any rookie cursed by low stat totals that ends up in the Weapons supraclass is salvageable as a Mayhem Gunner.

See also

Long War Rebalance: Soldiers
	Soldiers Assault Infantry Rocketeer Gunner Sniper Scout Medic Engineer
	MEC Troopers Marauder Goliath Jaeger Shogun
	Officers Psionics Gene Mods S.H.I.V.s